Type-writing machine



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W. J. BARRON. TYPE WRITING MAGHINE.

No. 472,023. Patented Apr. 5, 1892.

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(No Model.)

W. J. BARRON. `TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

No. 472,023. Patented Apr. 5, 1892.

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TYPE WRITING-MACHINE.

No. 472,023. Patented Apr. 5,'1892.

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Uri-ED STATES WALTER J. BARRON, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

ATENT OFFICE.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 472,023, dated April 5, 1892.

Application led .Tune 6, 1891. Serial No. 395,360. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER J. BARRON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Type-Writing Machines, of which the following is aspecitication.

My invention has for its main objects, first, to release the platen when it may be desired to rotate the platen and paper freely or quickly in one direction or the other without the employment of line-spacing instrumentalities, and, next, to improve the` paper-feeding devices; and to these ends it consists in the various features of construction and combinations of devices hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top view of the paper-carriage of a typewriting machine embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 isa sectionalviewof the platen and its axle, the latter having an endwise movement and in this respect being different from the axle shown at Fig. l. Fig. 3 isa vertical cross-section taken at the line u fu. of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a similar section showing a different form of pressure-spring. Fig. 5 is a detail side elevation showing still another arrangement of spring for the pressure-roller. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the platen-releasing devices shown at Fig. 1 in top View. Fig. 7 is a Vertical section of the same, taken at the line u o of Fig. 6. Fig. S is a front elevation of the means shown at Fig. 6, butin their unusual or operated position. Fig. 9 is a vertical section taken at the line w tu of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a front elevation of another detail construction of releasing devices embodying my invention. Fig. 1l is a vertical section taken at the line of Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is a front elevation of another construction differing in detail, but embodying my invention in platen-releasing devices. Fig. 13 isa vertical section taken at the line y y of Fig. 12. Fig. 14 is a top plan of still another detail construction of releasing devices embodying my invention. Fig. 15 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 16 is a vertical section taken at the line z .e of Fig. 15, and Fig. 17 is a detail view of the horizontal lever employed in the construction illustrated at Figs. 15, 16, and 17.

of a front rod 1, a back rod 2, and two end Y bars 3 and `4, the whole inclosing a paperplaten 5. On the back rod 2 near each end is secured by a set-screw 6 an arm or bracket 7, having a slight rearward inclination and provided with a ridge or fulcrum 8 on its front side. Each arm or bracket supports a lever 9, which is made straight for a portion of its length in order that it may co-operate with the arm or bracket and which is curved for the remainder of its length to surround the Y l under side of the platen and serve as a guide for one of the side edges of the paper. To each of the said levers 9 is attacheda bracket 10 to receive one end of the axle of a pressure or feeding roller, and also to receive one end of a scale-bar 11. The upper end of the lever 9 is connected to the arm or bracket 7 and in a manner such that a portion of said lever between its upper end and the pressdreroller rests upon or against the fulcrum 8. The lever is connected to the arm '7 in various ways, but :in each case so as to act against a spring or yielding resistance at its upper en Referring to Figs. 1 and 3, the upper end of the lever bears against a spiral spring 12, surrounding a headed pin 13, screwed into the -npper end of the arm 7. By this construction the springs 12 operate to force the feedroller against the platen, the springs acting on may be made to increase or decrease the tension of said spring and the pressure of said feed-roller.

Referring to Fig. 5, the spring 12 surrounds the screw pin or bolt 13 in rear of the arm 7, and a threaded nut 14 is provided for one IOO end of said spring to abut against, the opposite end bearing against the rear side of the arm 7, and the power of this spring may be adjusted by screwing the nut up or down, according as to whether more or less pressure upon the feed-roller is desired. The lever 9 in all instances acts as a lever of the first order, the fulcrum being between the pressurespring and the feed-roller. One great advantage of this construction is that when several sheets of paper are passed between the pressure-roller and the platen, asin manifolding, thus moving the pressure-roller rear` wardly or away from the platen, the levers 9 may rock or turn on their fulcra, so as notto unduly increase the pressure on the feedroller. As the pressure-roller is forced away from the platen by the increased number of sheets used the lower arms of the levers move rearwardly with said roller and the upper arms move forwardly and gently press against the springs 12, as represented at Fig. 3.

In prior constructions the supports 9 were rigidly attached to the arm 7, so as to simply bend about the ridges 8, and the effect was to greatly and unduly increase the pressure of the feed-roller and interfere with the proper feeding of the pile of sheets, as well as to cause the sheets to be smutted or blurred by the intervening carbon-paper. In such prior constructions the supports 9 were made of vspring metal, and the pressure of the feedroller was produced by the inherent spring of the metal between the ridges S and the pressure-roller, and in the use of such construction the springs increase in power very rapidly asthe pressure-roller moves away from thq platen, and to such an extent that when the pile of sheets is placed between the pressure-roller and platen the power of said springs and the pressure of said roller are largely in excess of the requirements, and the result is that the sheets slip upon one another and feed unevenly, due to the excessive pressure of the feed-roller, besides causing the carbon to offset or smut the sheets being written upon. By my construction the levers 9 yield or vibrate readily to any increased number of sheets which may be fed to the machine. By the arrangement of the springs at the upper ends of tle levers the pressure of the feedroller is automatically adjusted to the varying conditions of the work, and the faults or objections of the previous construction I have found in practice are wholly obviated. If desired, so far as this feature of my invention is concerned, the bent or curved guiding' portions of the lever may be omitted.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the drawings, l have shown in detail one form or construction of the devices for releasing the platen from its holding and line-spacing devices, so as to enable the platen to be rotated freely back or forth to bring any portion of the paper to the printing-point or to anyother desired position. In these views an arm or lever 15 is pivoted or hinged upon the back rod 2 of the paper-carriage, and is provided with a holdfast-dog or platen-check 16 to engage with a ratchet-wheel 17, connected to the paper-platen in a manner to prevent said platen from accidentally rotating at the time the writing is being performed. A spiral spring 18 is connected at one end to the end bar 4t of the paper-carriage and at its other end is attached to the arm or lever l5 to insure engagement of the dog or check 1G and the ratchet-wheel. Upon the front rod 1 of the carriage is pivoted a line-space lever 19, which carries at its upper end a pivoted driving-pawl 20, adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet-wheel 18 and drive the platen in line-space direction when the lever 19 is vibrated, all in about the usual way.

I shall now particularly describe my novel means for lifting the dog or check and linespace pawl from engagement with the ratchet-wheel when it may be desired to rotate the platen, still referring to Figs. 1, G, 7, 8, and 9. The axle or shaft 21, to which the platen is rigidly secured, is prolonged or extended at the right-hand end and is provided with a hand-wheel or linger-piece 22, having a hub 23, which is provided with a feather 24, fitted into a groove 25 in the axle or shaft, so as to be capable of sliding longitudinally thereon, and also of turning said shaft and the platen connected thereto. Upon the end bara is attached an upright stand or bracket 26,in the upper end of which is pivoted at 27 a bent lever 28, one arm of which is arranged to stand under the arm or lever 15 and the other arm of which is arranged to bear against the inner end of the hub 23. The free end of the arm or lever 15 is provided with aloop or yoke 29, which embraces the free end of the drivingpawl 20, so as to move said pawl out of and into engagement with the ratchet-wheel when the arm or lever 15 is itself raisedor lowered. By the construction described, when thehandwheel or finger-piece 22 is slid toward the platen the vertical arm of the bent lever 28 is moved toward the end bare1 land the opposite arm of said lever is caused to rise and lift the arm 15 against the tension of its spring and raise the dog or check, as well as the drivingpawl, out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel 18, and while the hand-wheel or linger-piece is in this position (illustrated at Fig. 8) the platen and the paper thereon may be turned freely in either direction. Immediatel y the inward pressure on the handwheel or finger-piece is released the parts all return to their normal positions (shown at Figs. (5 and 7) by the action `of the coiled spring 18, against the tension of which the arm 15 is raised.

Referring now to Figs. 10 and 1l, the bent lever 28 is pivoted at 30 directly to the end bar L of the carriage instead of to a stand or bracket, and the upper free end of said lever is extended to underlie the pivoted arm 15, while the lower horizontal arm of said bent lever 28 projects forwardly and rests upon IOO IIO

'engagement with the ratchet-wheel and simultaneously by means of the coupling 29 lift the free end of the driving-paw] out of engagement with the teeth of said ratchet-Wheel, all as clearly shown by the full and dotted lines at Figs. 10 and 1l. When the ratchet-wheel has been freed of the check and the drivingpawl, the platen may be rotated in either direction by means of the hand-wheel.

Referring to Figs. 12 and 13, a construction similar to that exhibited at Figs. 10 and 11 will be found, the only difference being that the conical or tapering hub is set in an opposite or reversed direction, so that when it may be desired to raise the platen-check and driving-pawl the hand-wheel is pushed or pulled from the platen instead of toward it, as will be readily understood by the full and dotted lines at Figs. 12 and 13.

Referring t0 Figs. 14, 15, 16, and 17, still another construction is shown. The bent lever 28 in this case is pivoted on a stand or bracket 26, so that one arm of said lever bears against the under side of the lever 15, and so that the other vertical arm of said bent lever lies in the path of one arm 32 of a horizontally-arranged lever 33, pivoted at 34 on the end bar 4. The other arm 35 of the auxiliary lever 33 is provided with a pin or stud 36, which occupies a groove 37 in the cylindrical hub 23 of the hand-Wheel or finger-piece 22. By this construction, when the hand-Wheel is moved toward the right or away from the platen the auxiliary lever is Vibrated to cause the arm 32 to move the vertical arm of the bent lever 28 toward the platen and to elevate its horizontal arm to lift the dog or check and the driving pawl from engagement with the ratchet-wheel, so that the platen may be rotated freely back or forth by means of the hand-Wheel, which, as in the other constructions described, is splined upon the platen shaft or axle.

Instead of attaching the platen and its shaft or axle rigidly together, and hence cf merely sliding the hand-Wheel to and fro upon the axle, the shaft or axle may be connected to the platen so as to have an independent longitudinal motion, and in this construction the hand-wheel or finger-piece may be fixed upon A the shaft or axle to slide therewith.

Referring to Fig. 2, the left-hand platenhead is provided with a sleeve 38, having an elongated slot 39, in which plays the shank of a screw 40, attached to the shaft or axle near its left-hand end. The slot 39 is just Wide enough to accommodate the shank of the screw, and hence when said shaft is turned in either direction the screw is caused to carry the platen with it, and by reason of the elongated slot 39 the shaft or axle is free to be slid lengthwise independently of the platen. Upon the right-hand end of the shaft is secured by means of a screw 41 or otherwise the hand-wheel or finger-piece 22, and hence When said hand-wheel is pushed toward the platen or pulled away therefrom the entire shaft moves With it, and when the hand-wheel is rotated the shaft and the platen are also'rotated. Vith this construction or arrangement of the parts may be used any of the devices hereinbefore described for actuating the bent lever 23 to release the platen-check and driving-pawl from the ratchet-Wheel, and hence I do not wish to be limited to a handwheel or finger-piece having a sliding move-A ment independent of the platen axle or shaft. At Fig. 1 .Where the hand-wheel is mounted to slide independently of the shaft, the shaft and the platen are preferably connected together by means of a screw, as 40, passing through a mere perforation in the sleeve 38 and engaging with a threaded hole in the shaft or axle. In this case it will be observed that the slot 39 in the sleeve is absent, and

. that hence the shaft is incapable of any endwise movement, though it is capable of being rotated bythe hand-wheel and of carrying the platen with it. By connecting the platen and the shaft or axle together in the mannerv shown at Figs. 1 and 2 provision is made for readily detaching the platen and substituting a harder or softer one or a new o11e,as may be desired.

So far as one part of my invention is concerned, the platen-check lever 15 and the dri-ving-pawl 2O need not be connected together, although. of course I prefer the construction illustrated, since by one operation both the platen-check and the driving-pawl' may be freed from the ratchet-wheel. Still, the driving-pawl may be lifted by a separate operation and the platen-check only removed from the ratchet wheel by my improved means. It will be seen by my invention that with one hand the platen-check and the driving-pawl may be instantly disengaged when desired and that without removing the hand the platen and the paper may be rotated or turned in either direction to any desired extent.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a type-Writing machine, the combination, with a platen and its holding means, of a finger-piece having a sliding movement toward and away from the end of said platen, and a lifter between said holding means and ICO IIO

said finger-piece, whereby the movement ofA the latter endwise of the platen may be transmitted to release the platen-holding means to enable the platen to be freely rotated.

2. In a type-writing machine, the combination, with aplaten having a ratchet-Wheel and a platen check or dog, of a finger-piece having a sliding movement axially of said platen,

4 Nave and a lever between said dog or check and the said nger-piece for removing said dog or check from the ratchet-wheel by the sliding movement of the finger-piece.

3. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a platen having a ratchet-wheel, apivoted arm or lever having a platen check or dog,a bentlever, and a finger-piece connected to said bent lever and having a sliding movement axially of said platen.

4. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a platen having a ratchet-wheel, a pivoted arm or lever having a platen check or dog, a line-space lever having a driving-pawl coupled to saidy pivoted arm or lever,a fingerpiece having a movement axially of said platen, and a lever between said finger-piece and said platen-check arm or lever and said driving-pawl, whereby the movement of the linger-piece may operate to remove the platencheck and the driving-pawl from the ratchetwheel.

5. In a type-writing machine, the combination, with a platen having a ratchet-wheel, of a pivoted arm or lever having a platen check or dog, a bent lever, one arm of which is adapted to actuate said platen-check arm or lever, and a sliding finger-piece for operating upon the other arm of said bent lever.

6. In a type-writing machine, the combination, with a platen having a ratchet-wheel, of a pivoted arm or lever having a platen check or dog, a line-space lever having a drivingpawl coupled to said platen-check arm or lever, a bent lever, one arm of which is adapted to move said platen-check lever and said driving-pawl, and a sliding finger-piece for operating upon the other arm ofthe bent lever.

7. In a type-writing machine, the combination, with a platen having a ratchet-wheel and a platen-axle, ot' a pivoted arm or lever having a platen check or dog, a finger-piece on said platen-axle and having a movement toward and away from said platen, and a lever connection between said platen-check arm or lever and said finger-piece for transmitting the movement of the latter to the platen-check arm or lever to remove the platen-check from engagement with the ratchet-wheel.

S. ln a type-writing machine, the combination, with a platen having a ratchet-wheel, of a pivoted arm or lever having a platen check or dog, a line-space lever having a drivingpawl coupled to the platen-check arm or lever, a linger-piece mounted on said platen-axle and having a movement toward and away from the platen, and a lever connection between said finger-piece and said platen-check arm or lever, whereby the endwise movement of the finger-piece may be transmitted to release the platen-check and the driving-pawl and enable the finger-piece, the platen-axle, and the platen to be rotated.

9. In a type-writing machine, the combination, with a platen having a ratchet-wheel and a platen-axle, of a pivoted arm or lever having a platen check or dog, a finger-piece mounted to slide on said platen-axle and also to turn it and its attached platen,and a lever connection between said sliding finger-piece and said platen-check arm or lever.

l0. In a type-writing machine, the combination, with a platen having a ratchet-wheel and a platen-axle, a pivoted arm or lever having a spring-actuated platen check or dog, a finger-piece adapted to slide endwise of the platen-axle, and an intermediate bent lever havin g one of its arms connected to the platencheck lever and its other arm connected to the finger-piece.

ll. ln a type-writing machine, the combination, with the end bars of a paper-carriage, of a platen having a sleeve at one end and arranged between said end bars, a platenaxle passing through said platen and through said sleeve and mounted in said end bars and prolonged to extend beyond one of said end bars, and a screw passing through a hole in said sleeve and engaging with said axle, whereby the platen may be rotated by turning said axle and may be readily detached by removing said screw and pulling out the platen-axle.

l2. In a type-writing machine, the combination, with the end bars of a paper-carriage, of a platen having a sleeve at one end provided with an elongated slot, a platenaxle passing through said platen and through said sleeve and mounted in said end bars and prolonged to extend beyond one of said end bars, a screw passing through said elongated slot and engaging with the platen-axle, whereby the platen may be rotated by turning said platen-axle and may be readily detached therefrom and whereby the platenaxle may be moved endwise without rotating the platen, means for holding or checking the platen, and means, substantially as described, for releasing said holding or checking means upon an endwise movement of the platen-axle.

13. ln a type-writing machine, the combination of the carriage side bar and the platen, an arm or bracket having a fulcrum, and a lever having a spring at one end above said fulcrum and supporting below said fulcrum one end of a feed-roller.

1li. In a type-writing machine, the combination of the carriage sidebar and the platen, an arm or bracket having a fulcrum and a screw or bolt, a spiral spring on said screw or bolt, and a lever bearing against said spring at its upper end above said fulcrum and supporting below said fulcrum one end of a feedroller.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this l-th day of June, A. D. 1801.

YV. J. BARRON.

Witnessesz JACOB FELBEL, WILLIS M. TYLER.

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